Mercy House by Alena Dillon

Author:Alena Dillon
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

When her eyes parted two hours later, she cringed at the memory of her interaction with her sister, but was relieved to be distracted by a new presence in her room: Father John.

“Evelyn,” Father John murmured as her eyes opened. He rested his large hand on top of hers. His touch was warm. His dark hair was flecked with flint around his ears and a permanent crease circled his neck, an indent from so much time spent bending his head in prayer. “You amaze me. I’m so proud of you.”

Perhaps because her tear ducts had already been unsealed that morning, her eyes began to water once again. “I may have won that battle but what does it matter? I lost the war,” she said.

His eyebrows lifted at the inside corners and angled down in a straight line toward his temples. “What’s this, now?”

Her vision blurred and she pinched mucus from her nose. “Bishop Hawkins. He’s going to shut down Mercy House.”

Father John squeezed Evelyn’s hands. “That can’t be true.”

She shook her head. “It is. He barged in looking for reasons, and he found them. He’s going to recommend dissolving it when he meets with Cardinal Rode.”

“But the cardinal will see the value in what you do.”

“He won’t believe the ends of Mercy House justify our means.”

Every feature on Father’s John’s face was alive with fretfulness. “But you can modify your means.”

Evelyn shifted her gaze back to the ceiling. “I don’t think I can.”

“I see . . . ,” he said, trailing off. They sat for a moment, thinking and listening to the sounds of the hospital: heels clicking down the hall, a baby crying, a single laugh, nurses chatting, a patient coughing, a telephone ringing.

“And I doubt Bishop Hawkins will stop at Mercy House,” Evelyn said, breaking their silence. “He won’t stop until we’re excommunicated.”

Father John chuckled and patted her arm. “Now that isn’t true. Even if that was his plan, I think you botched it.”

She sniffed and looked over at him. Fine lines radiated from his eyes, which were the quiet cobalt of a blue morpho butterfly stilled on a leaf. “What do you mean?”

“He can’t excommunicate a nun who shot a flamethrower at an infamous gang leader. You made headlines, Sister. You’re a rock star. It’d be bad for business, and the Vatican is too smart for that. They know how to operate; heck, they’re one of the oldest establishments around.”

This news was some consolation.

If she could trust the Catholic Church, if she could trust what Father John said to be true, then the sisters’ retirement was safe; they would remain in the order and would be taken care of when the time came. But without Mercy House, what would they do for work? St. Joseph of Mercy ran a foster house for children whose mothers were sent to prison. Perhaps they could join that team.

Another flood of exhaustion rolled over her body, submerging Evelyn from her toes to the crown of her head. She closed her eyes and nestled further into the pillow.

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